Mon Oct 1 = Ventriliquest/comedian, Peter Hefty, phoned me today as I drove to Albuquerque in time for a heavy torso workout and a shower at the Planet Fitness there. FP remembered me from July. Then on to the Back Alley Draft House with my Maui routine. I learned to pause more when the audience reacts, like Black Mike Ogden did so well. He was a real hit with the crowd of mostly comedians.
- I spent the night east of Alburque at a Walmart.
Tue Oct 2 = I drove to LIberal, KS and spent the night at a Hampton Inn around back where there wer mostly empty parking slots.
Wed Oct 3 = A good day for combining things I love to do. Since it was windy I stopped by Chene Reservoir and did about a half hour of kiteboarding on my 8m Best Nemesis kite and my twin tip. It was good to see some of my kiteboarding buddies from last time I was here, seven years ago.
- Then on to Wichita and
The Loony Bin comedy club. It was a long wait from being the first one to sign up to the 8pm show. I arrived at 5:33.
- The show was actually the first round of competition for Wichita's Funniest Comedian. The first 18 sign-ups got to perform. I signed up in the number 5 slot and did my Brother's Duplex set.
- I spent the night across the street where train noise was minimal and it was shady in the morning. That was a moot point since it was rainy during the night and overcast in the morning.
Thu Oct 4 = What a mess I made. A raw egg rolled off my counter and broke on my van's carpeting. I used a little dust pan to scoop up what I could, sprayed it with water and then went to a self service car wash and used their vacuum system for a combination spray/vacuum. I think I got most of it.
- This morning I made a dual cell phone camera bracket to set atop a tripod or on the flash shoe of a camera, thanks to a local hardware store and stuff I had on hand. Now I can have both a wide angle and a zoomed-in audience cameras on one tripod. It all should come in handy when I have to travel light, as flying to comedy shows.
- This afternoon was time with my daughter, Anne, and her family. They were busy with a lot of activities, so I sort of fit in to their schedule. It started with my getting access to McConnell AFB for me and my van. Thank you for sponsoring me, Anne. Evidently, back in February, when I recieved the new insurance card for my van, I threw out the new one and kept the old one. The Air Force Gal at the counter suggested that I have Amica Insurance FAX a replacement card. All it took was one one phone call.
- This evening we went to Katie's volleyball game. Of course she significantly contributed to their win... and not just because she's my granddaughter.
Fri Oct 5 = Today, a little more time with Anne and then off to KAKE TV for an appearance on their 11am - Midday News with Shane Ewing. It was interesting, fun and hopefully got some people interested in coming to some comedy.
- This evening I made guest appearances at
The Loony Bin Comedy Club; in Wichita, at both the 8pm and 10:30pm shows. The host was Chris (De So Funny); the feature was Josh Cocks and the headliner was Dante. What a lineup!
The first show I did ?76? HoldingHorsesJetsTitsPhone T-Shirt. The second show I did ?76 Fit Gym Black T-Shirt which was a real hit. Here's the shortened EPK version:
- I spent the night across the street where the 2-hour parking limit would expire at 10am.
Sat Oct 6 = After visiting the Wichita Planet Fitness, I drove to Hutchinson where I mostly prepared for my show tonight at
The Dirty Leprechaun Lounge/vape shop here in Hutchinson.
The host was Eric Reicher, opener was Mike Burke and the feature was Eric's sister, Helen. Of course I was the headliner, with 52 minutes of laughs. Eventually the video may make it to my website. It was a fun show, with an audience of 22. Next time, I'll be sure to find out how people heard about the show: my emails, KAKE TV, The Hutchinson News or through the vape shop.
- I spent the night parked back of
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
house. Got a good night's sleep under two comfortor layers, along with extra towels also covering my feet. It is forecast to be in the middle 40's and got down to the upper 50's inside my van.
Sun Oct 7 = I spent most of the day in my van at
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
house, uploading files from my four cameras and sound source to my external 1TB SSD drive and updating this BLOG. Never did make it to the library to get the BLOG uploaded, so uploaded it with my phone's tethered hotspot.
- I checked Stan's mailbox. The only stuff was a stack of letters to Earl, who lived here as Stan's tenant years ago. I tried to phone Earl, but his number was no longer in service.
- Around sunset, which did not exist because there was a heavy overcast and rain most of the day, I went to the post office for a change of address packet so we will no longer get mail to Stan's address here in Hutchinson. As I expected, the post office had nothing of the sort available in the lobby. Not even the yellow MAIL HOLD cards :( Then I drove to Newton and a non-existent Anytime Fitness south of town (Thanks, Garmin) and then to a real one at 4th and Main by the railroad. I did two minutes on an interesting Precor 100i. It is a little like an elliptical machine only the horizontal stride is determined by what you do with the handles.
- I surely am low on energy. Maybe it is associated with the chronic diarrhea I have had during this trip and before. Every time I threaten to see my doctor about it my situation seems to improve so I put it off. I think, when I get home I'll actually do the deed.
- Toward evening I went to the Newton, KS Anytime Fitness for a somewhat explosive BM and a quick slow/heavy legs workout. Then, in the rain, to spend the night at Comfort Inn south of the Greenwood Cemetery. I was the only vehicle parked on the west side of the building in the morning.
Mon Oct 8 = The two military honor guards were awesome. Due to a miscommunication we had no flag, so chased around town until we found one. The military ceremony for Stan was inspiring. When I get time, I'll include the video on my website.
- The rest of the day I visited with Anne and her family. New games we played were Golf, which uses two decks of standard playing cards and Apples or Apples, which comes with it's own cards. We rounded off our evening with electronic Catch Phrase. All new and novel learning for the prevention of dementia.
- I had one of my best night's sleep yet. No wonder, it was quite, dark, dry and in the garage!
Tue Oct 9 = Everyone deserted me: Anne had to take the girls to school then go to the DMV for new tags and, of course, Robbie went to work. I fixed and ate breakfast, added a new Louism for my website and got packed up to leave.
- I knew it did not make sense for me to go out and purchase a new Garmin Vivoactive to replace the one I lost three days ago, but it was hard to resist since I like closure. The plan was to replace it if it did not show up when I unloaded my van back home in Phoenix. Well, low and behold, I found it this morning... in the right pocket of my hooded sweat shirt. Just in time for my KPTS (PBS) appearance.
- Leaving McConnell Air Force Base, I headed to KPTS (PBS), the PBS station in Wichita. Mike Oliver, the producer, disappeared for a while with the childhood pictures I had brought. I have no idea which ones he chose. Taping One on One was interesting. I even got to do about three minutes of stand up for the audience of about 12, which was about everyone in the KPTS building at the time. The interview went well with Victor Hogstrom, the President and CEO of the station. It will be interesting to see how Mike puts the whole thing together. The program will air twice, in the spring or summer on KPTS (PBS), Channel 8 on a Thursday. The show will also air on KSN Channel 3, likely the following Sundays after Meet The Press.
- After the taping I drove to the Liberal, KS Walmart for the night. It's going to be a cold one: down to 34 degrees! I'll plan on settling in under two layers of comforter, my giant towel with three additional layers of towels, a windbreaker and opened-up zippered hoodie over my feet.
Wed Oct 10 = I was in Liberal until 3pm - mostly at the Liberal Library. I paid off (as always) all my monthly credit cards and updated this blog.
- I drove to Albuquerque, NM, arriving at Anytime Fitness about 9pm, did a quick arms workout and spent the night by some metal sculptures in the morning shade of some big trees in the parking lot out front where I spent a couple nights last July.
Thu Oct 11 = I drove all the way to Payson where I had supper and an excellent visit with
Rose Anne
My X wife who lives in Payson by a lake
,
then drove on to home in Phoenix. Home sweet home with the luxury of four computer screens, Alexa, my Sleep Number bed and CPAP.
Fri Oct 12 = A short between the ears, a brain fart: Whatever you call it, I had one when I scheduled my November 10th appearance with Chris Zuiker at
Comedy off Main St; in Mesa. That's in the middle of my trip to
The Savannah Comedy Revue, Bay St Theater in Savannah Georga. When I informed Chris that I would have to cancel, he was his usual mellow self and wished me luck. What a guy! Thanks, Chris!
- This evening I added a picture of the nose pillows for my CPAP machine I cleaned with my ltrasonic cleaner to Wed Sep 26, 2018 and got the video from my last Loony Bin appearance processed, uploaded to YouTube and up on my Press Kit.
- I slept 6 hours straight last night before having to get up to pee. Just about a record for me!
Sat Oct 13 = Today's big job was to produce the 52 minute video from my headlining in Hutchinson and to get it uploaded to my YouTube channel
. Also I did a light, fast legs workout at Anytime Fitness.
- This evening I got my next Comedy Workout Shirt planned. It will be more conservative than the one I made before my Kansas trip.
Sun Oct 14 = I'm catching up. It took me a half hour to check off the June 10th monthly statement with my checking account, which is pretty good for me. I rewarded myself for the accomplishment with a quick, fast exercycle session, by cleaning my van refrigerator, redoing the van's office and pantry drawer retention bumps with my glue gun so the drawers will open when I take left turns, stowing the rest of the stuff from my Kansas trip and modifying the second special medium T-Shirt (with the comedy logo printed lower) for a gym workout shirt.
Mon Oct 15 = An orchestrated day, starting with breakfast, sun, Dr appointment with Gergi Dwivedi about my diahreah, say "HI" to Dr Louis Hagler, make shopping list, go shopping with Willie under the auspices of
,
phone Cox Cable who determined that the modem/router I bought from them six years ago has a bad modem, researched replacements.
Tue Oct 16 = My big trip, which started this morning at 10:30 after I exercycled, had breakfast and took a bath, included:
Dr Joshua K Duncan, ophthalmologist at Horizon Eye & Lasik Center, about my eyes tracking, floaters etc
Bashas for raspberries on sale
Safeway for grapes and broccoli on sale
Office Max to look at cable MODEMs and Wi-Fi routers (didn't know much)
Sprouts for blackberries on sale
L A Fitness for a shower and a short, light, fast arms/torso workout
Best Buy to look at cable MODEMs and Wi-Fi routers (very helpful)
Fry's Electronics to look at cable MODEMs and Wi-Fi routers (moderately helpful)
Back to Best Buy to buy an Arris Surfboard SB6183 MODEM & Netgear69 Wi-Fi router with price match
99 Cent Only for 6 loaves of 100% whole wheat bread and radishes
Back home about 5pm to put everything away
- Replacing my old, defunct Cisco DCP3825 combination MODEM/router with the Arris Surfboard SB6183 MODEM & Netgear69 Wi-Fi router took a phone call to Cox Cable and pretty much the rest of the evening, because it didn't go as smoothly as it is supposed to. Now everything works, including my Amazon Echo Dot and the various Wemo and SmartHome devices around the house. It feels like a luxury to now have normal Wi-Fi.
Wed Oct 17 = This morning I did a prearranged phone interview with Matthew Sloan, editor for Harvard Men's Health Watch, a newsletter for men age 65 and older.
- With my Internet working now, I finally got my October 5th KAKE TV appearance in Wichita, KS downloaded from their website.
Thu Oct 18 = After I updated and printed out new Comedy Announcement Slips and took a 2nd stool sample, I took the sample over to my doctor's lab, stopped by the Tatum and Bell Fry's for fold-top sandwich bags and headed to La Fitness to trim my beard, take a shower and do a heavy arms workout. The only hitch was a fatal accident in front of the gym that had the whole area blocked off by the police for hours. I finally got everything in. At least I didn't loose my head like Angel Osuna Mellan did by hitting a Prius with his motorcycle.
- Finally, at home, I got my October 5th KAKE interview up after putting it on my YouTube channel. Boy did it upload fast, with my new modem and router.
- Sitting at my computer, I started falling asleep, so I did a couple impulse activities. One that had been at the back of my mind for months: vacuuming the tracks on my G-Scale railroad. Second activity: I put my new modem and router in their final positions and routed the cables properly. While I was at it I reorganized the rat's nest of cables that had been residing on the floor back of my computer for three generations of computers. I even got the cables hidden under a special cover I made about eight years ago.
Fri Oct 19 = I have been working on my routine for Sunday as host of
Insane Off Main - a special open mic show at Comedy off Main St in Mesa - Today's big project was to fill out all the online stuff to renew my Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/Trusted Traveler card. What a job. I'm not sure it is worth the $100 fee, but it WILL save time when I renter the US after traveling abroad.
- Tonight's after-bedtime project, in preparation for booking my 2019 Road Tour, was to make a map of the US with concentric arcs designating driving days from Phoenix in the south and days from
Sat Oct 20 = My stand up comedy is like holding down several jobs at once and never time to do all that needs to be done:
Comedy writer
Booking agent
Travel agent
Media/PR Specialist
Sound guy
Videographer
Video editor
Graphic designer
Accountant
Performer
Performance evaluator
- In the latter department I reorganized my Joke Laughs spreadsheets which list all 826 of my punchlines... so far. This is going to take a lot of time but it needs to be done - especially since I don't have a good short term memory. So I'll be listening to recordings of my recent shows and rating each punchline. The result will allow me to, with confidence, eliminate or tweak the punchlines that are not hitting.
- At noon I lay in the sun for 20 minutes - 10 on a side.
- This evening I stopped by for a quick, light legs workout at the East Camelback LA Fitness on the way to visit
Harold
Harold Dean Hayes, my techie X brother-in-law
.
We had a fun time exploring magnets, earth events, science, technology and machines. I can't believe it had been almost three years since our last visit.
- What a mess. I got distracted in the laundry while filling the hall bathroom sink and ran the sink over. Water covered about 2/3 of the bathroom floor. Unplanned emergency project: bringing in my wet/dry shop vac and cleaning it all up. Picked up about three gallons of water.
- Tonight's after-bedtime project was to improve the navigation around my BLOG pages by adding a link to the Latest Update on the navigation line at the top and bottom of each blog page for all 22 blog files for 2017 and 2018. As I get the files uploaded to my website it will make BLOG navigation easier... and the new link does not even add a new line to the pages!
Sun Oct 21 = I did a big harry test of all 5 of my camcorder/cell phones and determined that they all record at exactely the same speed. However, the Sony UX-560 recorder I use for audience audio is a little off after an hour or so - still acceptable.
Mon Oct 22 = This morning I went to see my PCP (Dwivedi) to follow up on my slightly low CBC blood test last week. They took another blood sample, in case the result was a lab fluke and I will continue my multivitimes, at least until I run out.
- Out at Optum Care, Deer Valley, Richard Chrislip couldn't make it for the Healthy Minds Presentation so Chris Brannan guided us through relaxing, taming our thoughts and getting in tune with ourselves. They let me introduce her, which was fun and got some laughs. While there, I started my quick, light arms workout, which I finished at Fitness 1 on the way home.
- I can't believe how slow I am. It took me all of 1.5 hours to organize and figure out my old Desert Financial Credit Union account from the last of 2017 to now. The account doesn't get hardly any activity. It is the only one with which I have physical checks, which I avoid using. So far this year I have written two.
- Tonight's after-bedtime project was to research comedy festivals for the middle of next year. I found 17, but a lot of their websites had old, out-of-date information. I sent emails to a couple and applied to a couple others to the tune of about $90.
Tue Oct 23 = I got up early this morning (11am), put on sunscreen, ate breakfast and then lay in the sun for 20 minutes.
- I made a number of phone calls regarding
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
properties and downloaded all transactions for the People's Bank account that I opened for Stan's estate.
- My Amazon Kindle Touch took some time today. It would not download The Joy Of Imperfection by Damon Zahariades from my library until I restarted it a couple of times and forced a sync. Then, on my phone it took a while with some online help to figure how to go to a specific location in a book in the Kindle app: tap the CENTER of the screen. Who would have thought!
- For my website today I added one of my guest appearances at the Loony Bin in Wichita, KS.
- Tonight's after-bedtime project was researching and sending a booking request email to Laffs Comedy Caffe in Tuscon. It took me a long time and was probably too close to perfect, according to Damon Zahariades.
- I am reading a chapter in his book about the link between perfectionism and procrastination. Now I'd better quit procrastinating and scoot on to bed.
Wed Oct 24 = I have been trying to contact the purchasers of
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
properties in Hutchinson. It is kind of hard doing business with people who do not answer their phones, have full voice-mail boxes and don't return text messages.
- Tonight's after-bedtime project started after a late supper and extended 'til 1:45am: Composing and sending out two emails to headliner comedians that I met while a guest on their shows. So my order of contacts for planning my spring road tour stops has been to:
[X] Find and apply for comedy festivals
[X] Contact headliner comedian friends for possible venue ideas
[_]Contact comedy clubs and venues along my route
Thu Oct 25 = The Joy Of Imperfection: A Stress-Free Guide To Silencing Your Inner Critic, Conquering Perfectionism, and Becoming The Best Version Of Yourself! is an excellent book by Damon Zahariades that I am reading. I recommend it. You'd think he was writing it specifically about me. So I set an Amazon Echo reminder to start to bed at 10, which involved getting things ready for my morning project. I didn't make it to bed by my goal of 11:00, but made it at 11:23, about four hours earlier than last night.
- I have changed my approach to comedy during my nighttime pees from going through a 5-minute set (which always takes a lot longer) to doing just five minutes of a particular set. That gives me practice continuing from where I left off - a valuable technique in case a distraction happens while I am on stage.
Fri Oct 26 = I got up early this morning (9:03) and did one hour of spring-tour club-contact emails before breakfast... onlygot two emails sent. Hey, I had to make sure I finished my research first.
- At noon I lay out in the sun 2 x 10 minutes.
- This afternoon I got the bank account for
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he succumbed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
estate all coordinated with my spread sheet.
- An even bigger project was adding about nine FUTURE APPEARANCES for next week to my Home Page and making new Show Slips that included all the shows.
- This evening I projected my budget/checking through December, then scooted off for a few groceries at Bashas, Safeway, Sprouts, a heavy torso workout at the Moon Valley LA Fitness, and then Target for fresh spinach. Yum!
Sun Oct 28 = Tonight was the last time for me to host Insane Off Main show. Chris Zuiker is closing the venue, Comedy Off Main St, after about a year struggling. He certainly is a good guy and has done a lot to further comedy in the the valley and especially new comedians. We celebrated the occasion by giving everyone on the list up to nine minutes to do their thing. We had a wonderful show. My PG-15 Gym routine was a real hit.
- I had a hard fall this evening at the show. Of course I could have done it here in the privacy of my own home. But, NO! I instead did it in front of an audience of 20 as I was stepping off the stage after introducing Jersey Ragland. I didn't notice the mic cord and caught one foot on it. There was no give in the cord because Jersey was standing on it and holding the mic tightly. Attempting to catch myself with my other foot, I caught it the same way, splattering myself down onto the first row of chairs and down to the floor. The good news is that I didn't do any bleeding. The bad news is that I'll have some significant bruises on my right arm. The good news is no bones popped (of course not... because I regularly engage in impact exercises). More good news: The stage was only 8 inches high; I got a lot of sympathy. Bad news I'll still have the bruises, which might raise some eyebrows, when the medical professional comes to my house for my annual House Calls appointment Thursday afternoon.
Mon Oct 29 = Today I upgraded my WyzeCams' software versions to 4.10.1.40.
- There wasn't much of an audience at Tukee's tonight; neither many comedians, so Jesse gave us 12 minutes. I was first on the show with 12:19.
- Then on to Devil's Advocate. During the open mic (later) portion of the show we were given a theoretical five minutes, but the times were pretty lax so I did six minutes.
Tue Oct 30 = At 1pm I left home to pick up Arlette for her doctor's appointment under the auspices of
.
She did not have anything good to say about my being early, my van, its AC or my driving. I don't believe Arlette and I are a good fit for transportation. I let Duet's dispatcher know. The first time I ever did something like that.
- Comedy this evening was at the Catalina Sports Bar in Phoenix. My sixth appearance there, and first in almost two years. Then I drove down to the Grand Avenue Pizza Company, but the show did not happen.
Wed Oct 31 = Adding Comedy T-Shirt availability to my home page was this morning's big project. They are Hanes TAGLESS 100% preshrunk cotton, instead of the Hanes TAGLESS Eco-Smart Comfort Blend shirts that I take with me for my comedy.
(order online here)
.
- Tonight I drove to Toso's where there was no comedy show tonight. I DID support the establishment by eating one of their salads.
- Then, on to the Quail Lounge for my first appearance there... my 740th appeared and 220th venue.
